Eeee gads SMITH!  Yah  I am  going to venture into one of my Smith families.

This is the family that I mentioned earlier in Treasures In Letters.

Ellen Smith wife of Byron Kaye is my problem child. There are a few birth dates that have surfaced for Ellen, as it stands now we believe she was born in 1829 and was older than Byron and this might be why the contradiction in dates.

As the family story goes she lost both of her parents to small pox in 1833.  We’ve not found these records yet.  This is one of the reasons that I tried to follow Captain David Smith back to his parents, Ellen wrote in her letter,  she lived with his family after her parents died. I have found this family , but have not as of yet found Ellen living with them. I know there are many reasons why she is not found, 10 yrs between census can leave a lot of room for moving around, she may not have stayed with her cousin David all the time but maybe spent time with other families as well. She could be listed under a different name such as Helen. We add that she is a Smith from Scotland and that Smith is about as common as it is here…sigh!

This is what we do have on Ellen and her family:

1.  Byron Kaye, son of James Kaye and Hannah Halroyd,
was born on 23 Apr 1836 in Kirkburton, Yorkshire, England, was
christened on 24 Nov 1836 in Kirkburton, Yorkshire, England, and died on
6 Mar 1865 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada at age 28. The cause of his
death was Boiler Accident.

Byron married Ellen Smith, daughter of David Smith, about 1857. Ellen was born on 4     May 1829 in Kintor, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, died on 1 May 1917 in Chicago, Cook Co., Ill. at age 87, and she was buried on 4 May 1917 in Rose Hill cemetery Chicago, Cook Co., Ill.

Children from this marriage were:

2 F     i. Margaret Fischer Kaye was born on 13 Jan 1858 in
Waterloo, Ontario, CA.
3 M    ii. David Smith Kaye was born about 1859 in Canada, died
on 17 Aug 1946 in El Paso , Texas about age 87, and was
buried on 19 Aug 1946 in  Evergreen Cemetery.
4 M   iii. Byron Kaye was born in 1860 and died on 8 Sept 1883 in
Chicago Ill. at age 23.
5 M    iv. Rev. Alexander Smith Kaye  was born on 1 Dec 1861 in Geulph,
Ontario, Canada and died on 13 Sept 1952 in Florence, Alabama
at age 90.
6 F     v. Barbara Jane Kaye  was born on 31 Mar 1863 in Woodstock On
Canada, died on 9 May 1941 in Zanesville, Muskinghum,
Co., Ohio at age 78, and Barbara is buried in Dresden ,
Muskingum Co. Ohio.
7 F    vi. Anna Gordon Kaye  was born on 3 May 1865 in Woodstock,
Ontario, CA, died on 19 Dec 1949 in Los Angles, CA at age
84, and is buried  in Forest Lawn cemetery   Los Angles,
CA..
8 M   vii. Rev. James Ross Kaye  was born on 3 May 1865 in Woodstock,
Ontario, CA, died on 12 Oct 1940 in Chicago, Ill at age
75, and is buried in Forest Home Cemetery Oak Park Ill.

Happy Hunting!